DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The following is a Non-Final Office action in response to Applicant submission received on 05/23/2023.
3. Claims 1-21, 54-63 are currently pending and have been examined.
Foreign Priority
4. No foreign priority claimed under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Oath/Declaration
5. The applicant's oath/declaration filed on 05/23/2023 has been reviewed by the examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Drawings
6. The applicant’s drawings submitted on 05/23/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Information Disclosure Statement
7. The information disclosure statement submitted by Applicant is in compliance with the provision of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609. It has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
9. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
10. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
11. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
12. Claims 1-2, 8, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Folke et al. (US 20190200288 A1) in view of Xu et al. (US 20190313315 A1).
Regarding claims 1, Folke discloses a method for wireless communication at a base station (Fig. 8, para. 115: eNB), comprising:
identifying a relay pairing between a user equipment (UE) and a relay UE based at least in part on a measurement report from the UE (Folke, Fig. 9A, para. 124: disclose in Fig. 9A Step 618 "You shall connect to Relay UE" and the ranking rules of para. [0142]) which is based on the measurement report sent in step 612 of Fig. 9A), wherein the relay UE is from a set of one or more relay UE candidates (Folke, abstract, para. 114, 141: relay UE is from a set of candidate relay UEs);
identifying a configuration of the relay UE based at least in part on a handover decision associated with the relay pairing (Folke, Fig. 9A illustrates in step 620 "establishment of security association with Relay_UE" the relay configuration RRCConnectionReconfiguration in step 618, shown in Fig. 9A "You shall connect to Relay_UE"); and
transmitting, to the UE, a message indicating the configuration of the relay UE (Folke, Fig. 9A, para. 120: steps 602 and 604 are measurement trigger configurations sent to both relay UE and remote UE from base station), an identifier of the relay UE (Folke, para. 105: a layer 2 identifier of the WD 12), and an indication that the UE is to switch [[to a sidelink communications link]] with the relay UE (Folke, Fig. 9A: UE-Relay connection setup: Fig. 9A illustrates in step 620 "establishment of security association with Relay_UE" the relay configuration RRCConnectionReconfiguration in step 618, as shown in Fig. 9A "You shall connect to Relay_UE").
Although Folke discloses establishment of security association with relay UE, Folke does not appear to explicitly disclose UE is to switch to a sidelink communications link with the relay UE.
In the same field of endeavor, Xu discloses the UE is to switch [[to a sidelink communications link]] with the relay UE (Xu, FIGS. 9-10, para. 39: after determining candidate links, the selecting unit 113 is configured to select a communication link to be applied to the user equipment from the candidate links based on the information acquired by the acquiring unit 111).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to combine the Folke with Xu to teach that the UE is to switch to a sidelink communications link with the relay UE as taught by Xu. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a better guarantee of service continuity as taught in Xu para. 62.
Regarding claim 2, Folke as modified by Xu discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a setup request message from the relay UE based at least in part on a sidelink communication link between the UE and the relay UE (Folke, Fig. 8, para. 117: the Remote_UE and the Relay_UE communicate to perform layer 3 (L3) authentication and establishment of security association (step 506). In addition, a route configuration procedure is performed. For the route configuration procedure, the Relay_UE sends a msg-5 (measurement reported related to the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 508));
establishing a first signaling radio bearer for the relay UE based at least in part on receiving the setup request message (Folke, Fig. 8, para. 117: the Relay_UE sends a msg-5 (measurement reported related to the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 508). The Relay_UE, the eNB, and the CN 18 (which in this example is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network) communicate to perform bearer reconfiguration (step 510)); and
transmitting, to the relay UE, a connection setup complete message comprising an indication of the first signaling radio bearer (Folke, para. 124: a UE-relay connection setup procedure is performed. For this procedure, the eNB sends msg-9 to the Remote_UE, where msg-9 instructs the Remote_UE to connect to the Relay_UE (step 618). The Remote_UE and the Relay_UE communicate to perform L3 authentication and establishment of security association (step 620). In addition, a route configuration procedure is performed. For the route configuration procedure, the Relay_UE, the eNB, and the CN 18 communicate to perform bearer reconfiguration (step 622)).
Regarding claim 8, Folke and Xu disclose the method of claim 1,
further comprising:
generating a handover command for the UE based at least in part on the
handover decision (Folke, Fig. 9A, S618: UE relay connection setup: msg-9(RAN)
RRCConnectionReconfiguration (“You shall connect to Relay _UE)).
Regarding claim 10, Folke and Xu disclose all the subject matter of
the method of claim 1, Xu further teaches wherein the message comprises a radio
resource control reconfiguration message (Xu, para. 145: the message comprises a
RRCConnectionReconfiguration message).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke with Xu to teach that the message comprises
a radio resource control reconfiguration message as taught by Xu. The motivation for
doing so would have been to provide a better guarantee of service continuity as taught
in Xu para. 62.
13. Claims 3-7, 9, 11-21, 54-63 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Folke et al. (US 20190200288 A1) in view of Xu et al. (US 20190313315 A1) and further in view of Raghothaman et al. (US 20140349694 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Folke and Xu disclose the method of claim 2, Folke
further teaches comprising:
establishing a second signaling radio bearer, or a data radio bearer, or any
combination thereof, based at least in part on the configuration of the relay UE (Folke,
Fig. 9B, para. 124: a route reconfiguration is established between the Relay_UE and
eNB/EPC as shown in step 622 Bearer reconfiguration (e.g., as a second signaling
bearer)).
Folke and Xu do not appear to disclose transmitting, to the relay UE, a
reconfiguration complete message comprising an indication of the second signaling
radio bearer, or the data radio bearer, or any combination thereof.
In the same field of endeavor, Raghothaman teaches transmitting, to the relay
UE, a reconfiguration complete message (Raghothaman, para. [0122]: The base station
sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the H-WTRU) comprising an indication of the
second signaling radio bearer, or the data radio bearer, or any combination thereof
(Raghothaman, para. [0122]: The base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the H-WTRU) comprising an indication of the second signaling radio bearer, or the data radio bearer, or any combination thereof (Raghothaman, para. [0122]: After configuring the H-WTRU's 202 radio bearers in accordance with the RRC reconfiguration message, H-WTRU 202 transmits an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message 932 to indicate that the radio bearers have been configured).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke as modified by Xu with the teaching of
Raghothaman to teach that transmitting, to the relay UE, a reconfiguration complete
message comprising an indication of the second signaling radio bearer, or the data
radio bearer as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been
to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman,
para. [0083].
Regarding claim 4, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving, via the relay UE, a connection reestablishment request message from
the UE based at least in part on the relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE
(Folke, para. 117-118, 125: A relay-UE connection acknowledgment procedure is then
performed. In this procedure, the Relay_UE sends a L3 ACK to the Remote_UE to
provide the relay connection (step 624). The Remote_UE then starts data transmission
on PC5 (step 626), where this data transmission is relayed to the eNB via the
Relay_UE);
identifying context information associated with the relay UE (Folke, para. 122: the
Remote_UE sends a msg-7 (measurement report for one or more Relay_UEs (i.e.,
context information) to the eNB (step 612)).
Folke and Xu do not appear to disclose transmitting, to the UE, a connection
reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection
reestablishment request message, wherein transmitting the connection reestablishment
message is based at least in part on identifying the context information associated with
the relay UE.
In the same of endeavor, Raghothaman teaches transmitting, to the UE, a
connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection
reestablishment request message (Raghothaman, para. [0157]: The T-WTRU 201
sends an RRC connection reestablishment request to the backup H-WTRU 206 1616
and the backup H-WTRU 206 relays the RRC connection reestablishment request to
the base station 114 in an RRC information transfer message 1618. RRC connection
reconfiguration is performed for the backup H-WTRU 206 1620. The base station 114
sends an RRC connection reestablishment message to the backup H-WTRU), wherein
transmitting the connection reestablishment message is based at least in part on
identifying the context information associated with the relay UE (Raghothaman, para.
[0157]: The base station 114 sends an RRC connection reestablishment message to the backup H-WTRU 206 1622, which is relayed to the T-WTRU 201 1624. Further, the T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment complete message to the
backup H-WTRU 206 1626, which is relayed to the base station 114 1628).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke as modified by Xu with the teaching of
Raghothaman to teach that transmitting, to the UE, a connection reestablishment
message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request
message, wherein transmitting the connection reestablishment message is based at
least in part on identifying the context information associated with the relay UE as
taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide
service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 5, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 4,
wherein the first signaling radio bearer, the second signaling radio bearer, the data radio
bearer, or any combination thereof, is established after receiving the connection
reestablishment request message from the UE (Folke, para. 117, 124: the eNB sends
msg-9 to the Remote_UE, where msg-9 instructs the Remote_UE to connect to the
Relay_UE (step 618). The Remote_UE and the Relay_UE communicate to perform L3
authentication and establishment of security association (step 620). In addition, a route
configuration procedure is performed. For the route configuration procedure, the
Relay_UE, the eNB, and the CN 18 (which in this example is an EPC network)
communicate to perform bearer reconfiguration (step 622)).
Regarding claim 6, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 4,
wherein identifying the context information associated with the relay UE comprises:
transmitting, to an anchor base station associated with the relay UE, a request
for the context information associated with the relay UE (Folke, para. 122: the
Remote_UE sends a msg-7 (measurement report for one or more Relay_UEs (i.e.,
context information of the Relay-UE) to the eNB (step 612)), however Raghothaman
further teaches wherein the request for the context information is based at least in part
on receiving the connection reestablishment request message from the UE
(Raghothaman, para. [0157]: The T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection
reestablishment request to the backup H-WTRU 206 1616 and the backup H-WTRU
206 relays the RRC connection reestablishment request to the base station 114 in an
RRC information transfer message 1618. RRC connection reconfiguration is performed
for the backup H-WTRU); and receiving, from the anchor base station, the context information for the relay UE based at least in part on the request for the context information (Raghothaman, para. [0157]: The base station 114 sends an RRC connection reestablishment message to the backup H-WTRU 206 1622, which is relayed to the T-WTRU 201 1624).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke as modified by Xu with the teaching of
Raghothaman to teach that the request for the context information is based at least in
part on receiving the connection reestablishment request message from the UE and
receiving, from the anchor base station, the context information for the relay UE based
at least in part on the request for the context information as taught by Raghothaman.
The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the
remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 7, Folke and Xu disclose the method of claim 1, Folke
teaches further comprising:
receiving the measurement report from the UE (Folke, Fig. 8, S508: eNB
receives Measurement Report from UE), but fail to teach wherein the measurement
report comprises an indication of a connection state of the relay UE, the identifier of the
relay UE, a cell identifier of the relay UE, or any combination thereof, wherein the relay
pairing is based at least in part on the measurement report.
In the same of endeavor Raghothaman teaches wherein the measurement report
comprises an indication of a connection state of the relay UE, the identifier of the relay
UE, a cell identifier of the relay UE, or any combination thereof (Raghothaman, para.
[0169][0173]: The T-WTRU 201 may generate a measurement report based on the
measurements and may send the measure report to the base station 114 1904. The
measurement report may include an event code indicating that handover to W2W
coverage mode is to occur or indicating that the T-WTRU 201 is ready for the handover.
[0173 further teaches the RRC association request message may include an identity
associated with the H-WTRU 202 (for example, cell ID, S-TMSI, or C-RNTI)), wherein
the relay pairing is based at least in part on the measurement report (Raghothaman,
para. [0169]: The measurement report may include an event code indicating that
handover to W2W coverage mode is to occur or indicating that the T-WTRU 201 is
ready for the handover. Based on the measurement report, the base station 114 may
determine whether handover should be triggered).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke as modified by Xu with the teaching of
Raghothaman to teach that the measurement report comprises an indication of a
connection state of the relay UE, the identifier of the relay UE, a cell identifier of the
relay UE, or any combination thereof, wherein the relay pairing is based at least in part
on the measurement report as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so
would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE)
(Raghothaman, para. [0083]).
Regarding claim 9, Folke and Xu disclose the method of claim 1, further
comprising:
storing a connection state of the relay UE comprises an idle state of the UE and
a layer 2 identifier of the relay UE based at least in part on the relay pairing (Folke, Fig.
9A and para. 105: eNB comprises a memory to store layer 2 identifier of the relay UE
and remote UE), but fail to teach releasing an access link with the UE based at least in
part on storing the layer 2 identifier of the UE and the layer 2 identifier or the relay UE.
In the same field of endeavor, Raghothaman teaches releasing an access link with the UE based at least in part on storing the layer 2 identifier of the UE and the layer 2 identifier or the relay UE (Raghothaman, [0107]: the H-WTRU 202 releases the TRL 204 or an RFL is declared on the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 702 and, as such, the H-WTRU 202 transitions back to the RRC-IDLE state 410.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that releasing an access link with the UE based at least in part on storing the
layer 2 identifier of the UE and the layer 2 identifier or the relay UE as taught by
Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and
coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083]).
Regarding claim 11, Folke and Xu disclose all the subject matter of the
method of claim 1 with the exception wherein a connection state of the relay UE
comprises an idle state or an inactive state.
In the same field of endeavor, Raghothaman discloses wherein a connection
state of the relay UE comprises an idle state or an inactive state (Raghothaman, para.
[088]: The WTRU 102 may be in an RRC-IDLE state).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with Raghothaman to teach that a
connection state of the relay UE comprises an idle state or an inactive state as taught
by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and
coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 12, Folke discloses a method for wireless communication
at a relay user equipment (UE) (Fig. 8, para. 115: Relay_UE), comprising:
receiving, from a UE, a message to establish a [[sidelink communication link]]
with the UE (Folke, Fig. 8, para. 116: at step 500. Relay_UE receives Msg-3(RAN)
Unicast/Broadcast relay request from remote UE);
transmitting, to a base station, a connection setup request message based at
least in part on establishing the [[sidelink communication link]] with the UE (Folke, Fig.
9A, para. 123: the Relay_UE sends msg-8 (measurement report for the Remote_UE) to
the eNB (step 616). This measurement report includes, e.g., a measurement of the
radio channel quality of PC5 (i.e., the radio channel between the Remote_UE and the
Relay_UE)).
Folke does not appear to explicitly disclose a message to establish a sidelink communications link with the UE, wherein the message comprises an indication that the [[sidelink communication link]] is for a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE; and receiving, from the base station in response to the connection setup request message, a connection setup complete message comprising an indication of a first signaling radio bearer associated with a relay link for the relay pairing.
In the same field of endeavor, Xu discloses a message to establish a sidelink communications link with the UE (Xu, FIGS. 9-10, para. 39: after determining
candidate links, the selecting unit 113 is configured to select a communication link to be
applied to the user equipment (UE) from the candidate links based on the information
acquired by the acquiring unit 111).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke with Xu to teach that establishing a sidelink
communications link with the relay UE as taught by Xu. The motivation for doing so
would have been to provide a better guarantee of service continuity as taught in Xu
para. 62.
Folke and Xu do not appear to disclose wherein the message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE; and receiving, from the base station in
response to the connection setup request message, a connection setup complete
message comprising an indication of a first signaling radio bearer associated with a
relay link for the relay pairing.
In the same field of endeavor, Raghothaman teaches wherein the message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE (Raghothaman, para. [0170]: If the base station 114 determines to trigger handover, the base station 114 sends a message (RRC prepare for W2W coverage mode) informing the T-WTRU 201 1906. When the T-WTRU 201 is informed that handover is triggered, the T-WTRU 201 may perform neighbor discovery in order to find a H-WTRU 202 1908); and receiving, from the base station in response to the connection setup request message (Raghothaman, para. [0005]: the H-WTRU may receive an RRC connection setup message from the base station), a connection setup complete message (Raghothaman, para. [0005][0106][0118]: teaches connection establishment. That is, RRC connection establishment uses a setup, i.e., a setup complete exchange carried on SRB1. The SRB configuration conveyed in the connection setup message determines the SRB used for subsequent connection setup complete message) comprising an indication of a first signaling radio bearer associated with a relay link for the relay pairing (Raghothaman, para. [0006]: the RRC connection setup message may include configuration information for a first signaling radio bearer (SRB1) of the T-WTRU. The SRB1 may be mapped to a data radio bearer (DRB) of the H-WTRU).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE;
and receiving, from the base station in response to the connection setup request
message, a connection setup complete message comprising an indication of a first
signaling radio bearer associated with a relay link for the relay pairing as taught by
Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and
coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 13, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 12, However, Raghothaman further teaches comprising:
transmitting a reconfiguration request message to the base station based at least
in part on receiving the connection setup complete message (Raghothaman, para. [0117][0122]-[0124]: The base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the H-WTRU 202 930 for configuring the radio bearers between the base station 114 and the H-WTRU 202. After configuring the H-WTRU's 202 radio bearers in accordance with the RRC reconfiguration message, H-WTRU 202 transmits an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message 932 to indicate that the radio bearers have been configured); and
receiving, from the base station, a reconfiguration complete message comprising
an indication of a second signaling radio bearer for the relay link, or a data radio bearer
for the relay link, or any combination thereof (Raghothaman, para. [0118][0177]: the T-WTRU 201 may receive an RRC reconfiguration message from the base station 1934. The RRC reconfiguration message may be received on SRB1, which is tunneled through a DRB of the H-WTRU 202. Alternatively, the RRC reconfiguration message and the RRC reconfiguration complete message may be exchanged over the direct TRL 205 if it remains established. After the exchange of the RRC reconfiguration and the RRC reconfiguration complete messages, handover is completed 1938.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that transmitting a reconfiguration request message to the base station based at least in part on receiving the connection setup complete message and receiving, from the base station, a reconfiguration complete message comprising an indication of a second signaling radio bearer for the relay link, or a data radio bearer for the relay link as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 14, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 13, further comprising:
relaying, from the UE, a connection reestablishment request message to the
base station based at least in part on the relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE
(Folke, Fig. 9A, para. 115-118: the Relay_UE sends a msg-5 (measurement reported
related to the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 508). The Relay_UE, the eNB, and the CN
18 (which in this example is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network) communicate to
perform bearer reconfiguration (step 510)); and
relaying, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message to the UE
in response to the connection reestablishment request message (Folke, Fig. 9A, S614,
S620, para. 124: the eNB sends msg-9 to the Remote_UE, where msg-9 instructs the
Remote_UE to connect to the Relay_UE (step 618) (“You shall connect to Relay_UE”).
The Remote_UE and the Relay_UE communicate to perform L3 authentication and
establishment of security association (step 620)).
Regarding claim 15, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 14, however, Raghothaman further teaches wherein the connection reestablishment request message and the connection reestablishment message are relayed before receiving the reconfiguration complete message from the base station (Raghothaman, para. [0157]: The T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment request to the backup H-WTRU 206 1616 and the backup H-WTRU 206 relays the RRC connection reestablishment request to the base station 114 in an RRC information transfer message 1618. RRC connection reconfiguration is performed for the backup H-WTRU 206 1620, as described with reference to numerals 928-934 in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The base station 114 sends an RRC connection reestablishment message to the backup H-WTRU 206 1622, which is relayed to the T-WTRU 201 1624. Further, the T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment complete message to the backup H-WTRU 206 1626, which is relayed to the base station).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that the connection reestablishment request message and the connection reestablishment message are relayed before receiving the reconfiguration complete message from the base station as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 16, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose all the subject matter of the method of claim 12, however, Raghothaman further teaches wherein a connection state of the relay UE comprises an idle state or an inactive state (Raghothaman, para. [0088]: The WTRU 102 may be in an RRC-IDLE state).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with Raghothaman to teach that a
connection state of the relay UE comprises an idle state or an inactive state as taught
by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and
coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 17, Folke discloses a method for wireless communications at a
user equipment (UE) (Fig. 8, para. 115: Remote_UE), comprising:
receiving, from a base station, a first message indicating a configuration of a
relay UE (Folke, para. [0120]: the eNB sends msg-1 (relay discovery channel (re)configuration) to the Relay_UE (step 600) and msg-2 (relay discovery channel (re)configuration) to the Remote_UE (step 602). The eNB also sends msg-3 (measurement report trigger/(re)configuration) to the Relay_UE (step 604) and msg-4 (measurement report trigger/(re)configuration) to the Remote_UE (step 606)), an identifier of the relay UE (Folke, para. 105: a layer 2 identifier of the WD 12), and
wherein the first message is based at least in part on a relay pairing between the UE
and the relay UE (Folke, para. 117: a UE-relay connection setup procedure is performed. For this procedure, the Remote_UE and the Relay_UE communicate to perform layer 3 (L3) authentication and establishment of security association (step 506). In addition, a route configuration procedure is performed. For the route configuration procedure, the Relay_UE sends a msg-5 (measurement reported related to the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 508));
transmitting, to the relay UE, a second message to establish a [[sidelink
communication link]] with the relay UE (Folke, Fig. 8, para. 116: Remote_UE sends
msg-3 (a unicast/broadcast relay request) (step 500). Msg-3 is sent via a PC5
communication channel (which may also be referred to herein as a PC5 relay discovery
transport channel)); and
receiving, from the relay UE and in response to the second message, a third
message configuring the [[sidelink communication link]] with the relay UE (Folke, Fig. 8,
S504, para. 116: the Relay_UE sends a msg-4 (relay service broadcast/unicast) (step
504). Msg-4 is sent via the PC5 relay discovery transport channel).
Although Folke discloses establishment of security association with relay UE,
Folke does not appear to explicitly disclose an indication for the UE to switch to a sidelink communications link with the relay UE, wherein the second message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with the relay pairing.
In the same field of endeavor, Xu teaches an indication for the the UE to switch to a sidelink communications link with the relay UE (Xu, FIGS. 9-10, para. 39: after determining candidate links, the selecting unit 113 is configured to select a communication link to be applied to the user equipment from the candidate links based on the information acquired by the acquiring unit 111).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke with Xu to teach that an indication for the UE to switch to a sidelink communications link with the relay UE as taught by Xu. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a better guarantee of service continuity as taught in Xu para. 62.
Folke and Xu do not appear to disclose wherein the second message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing.
In the same field of endeavor, Raghothaman teaches wherein the second message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing (Raghothaman, para. [0170][0192]: If the base station 114 determines to trigger handover, the base station 114 sends a message (RRC prepare for W2W coverage mode) informing the T-WTRU 201 1906. When the T-WTRU 201 is informed that handover is triggered, the T-WTRU 201 may perform neighbor discovery in order to find a H-WTRU 202 1908. See also Fig. 25A for a handover associated with the relay pairing).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that the second message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 18, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 17, further comprising:
transmitting a measurement report to the base station (Folke, Fig. 9A, S612,
para. 122: Remote UE sends msg-7(RAN) Measurement Report to eNB), wherein the
measurement report comprises an indication of a connection state of the relay UE
(Folke, para. [0087]: When a remote UE in network coverage receives service (availability) messages from several relays, the remote UE needs to report measurements related to one or more candidate relays to the eNB. How many and which candidate relay should be reported? Moreover, [0123] discloses the Relay_UE sends msg-8 (measurement report for the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 616). This measurement report includes, e.g., a measurement of the radio channel quality of PC5 (i.e., the radio channel between the Remote_UE and the Relay_UE)), the identifier of the relay UE, a cell identifier of the relay UE, or any combination thereof, wherein the relay pairing is based at least in part on the measurement report (Folke, para. 105, 111: the measurement report may include a measurement of the PC5 radio channel quality and an identifier of the remote WD. The response may include, for example, an indication of one or more services provided by the relay WD 12 and a ProSe UE ID of the relay WD 12 (which is a layer 2 identifier of the WD 12)).
Regarding claim 19, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 17, further comprising:
transmitting, via the relay UE, a connection reestablishment request message to
the base station based at least in part on the relay pairing between the UE and the relay
UE (Folke, para. 117-118, 125: A relay-UE connection acknowledgment procedure is then performed. In this procedure, the Relay_UE sends a L3 ACK to the Remote_UE to
provide the relay connection (step 624). The Remote_UE then starts data transmission
on PC5 (step 626), where this data transmission is relayed to the eNB via the
Relay_UE. Raghothaman, Fig. 16, para. [0157]: The T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment request to the backup H-WTRU 206 1616 and the backup H-WTRU 206 relays the RRC connection reestablishment request to the base station 114 in an RRC information transfer message 1618.), receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message (Raghothaman, Fig. 16, para. [0157]: The T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment request to the backup H-WTRU 206 1616 and the backup H-WTRU 206 relays the RRC connection reestablishment request to the base station 114 in an RRC information transfer message 1618. RRC connection
reconfiguration is performed for the backup H-WTRU 206 1620. The base station 114
sends an RRC connection reestablishment message to the backup H-WTRU).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 20, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 19, however, Raghothaman further teaches comprising:
releasing an access link between the UE and a source base station based at
least in part on receiving the connection reestablishment message via the relay UE (Raghothaman, Figs. 7, 22-23, para. [0101][0196]-[0199]: FIG. 7 shows an RRC state transition diagram for a H-WTRU 202. A H-WTRU 202 is in the XL-Inactive substate 520 of the RRC-IDLE state 410. If the H-WTRU 202 establishes the TRL 204 701, the H-WTRU 202 transitions to the RRC-CONNECTED state 420 while remaining in the same XL substate. While in the RRC-CONNECTED state 420, the H-WTRU 202 releases the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 or an RFL is declared on the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 702 and, as such, the H-WTRU 202 transitions back to the RRC-IDLE state 410.), wherein the source base station is different from the base station (Raghothaman, Fig. 22, para. [0196]: source base station 114 is different from target base station as shown in figure 22).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to teach that receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 21, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the method of claim 17, however, Raghothaman further teaches comprising:
releasing an access link between the UE and a source base station based at
least in part on receiving the first message (Raghothaman, Figs. 22-23, para. [0096][0196]-[0199]: If the WTRU 102 establishes a TRL 204 with a base station 114 601, the WTRU 102 transitions to the RRC-CONNECTED state 420 while remaining in the XL-Inactive substate 520. If the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 fails or the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 is released 602, the WTRU 102 transitions back to the RRC-IDLE state 410 and remains in the XL-Inactive substate 520.), wherein the source base station is different from the base station (Raghothaman, Fig. 22, para. [0196]: source base station 114 is different from target base station as shown in figure 22).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to teach that receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 54, Folke discloses an apparatus for wireless communication
at a relay user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor (Folke, Fig. 15: processor 20);
memory coupled with the processor (Folke, Fig. 15: memory 22); and instructions stored
in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a UE, a message to establish a [[sidelink communication link]] with
the UE (Folke, Fig. 8, para. 116: at step 500. Relay_UE receives Msg-3(RAN)
Unicast/Broadcast relay request from remote UE);
transmit, to a base station, a connection setup request message based at least in
part on establishing the [[sidelink communication link]] with the UE (Folke, Fig. 9A, para.
123: the Relay_UE sends msg-8 (measurement report for the Remote_UE) to the eNB
(step 616). This measurement report includes, e.g., a measurement of the radio channel
quality of PC5 (i.e., the radio channel between the Remote_UE and the Relay_UE)).
Although Folke discloses establishment of security association with relay UE,
Folke does not appear to explicitly disclose receive, from a UE, a message to establish a sidelink communication link with the UE, wherein the message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE; and receive, from the base station in response to the connection setup request message, a connection setup complete message comprising an indication of a first signaling radio bearer associated with a relay link for the relay pairing.
In the same field of endeavor, Xu discloses receive, from a UE, a message to establish a sidelink communication link with the UE (Xu, FIGS. 9-10, para. 39: after determining candidate links, the selecting unit 113 is configured to select a communication link to be applied to the user equipment from the candidate links based on the information acquired by the acquiring unit 111).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke with Xu to teach that establishing a sidelink
communications link with the relay UE as taught by Xu. The motivation for doing so
would have been to provide a better guarantee of service continuity as taught in Xu
para. 62.
Folke and Xu do not appear to disclose wherein the message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE; and receive, from the base station in response to the connection setup request message, a connection setup complete message comprising an indication of a first signaling radio bearer associated with a relay link for the relay pairing.
In the same field of endeavor, Raghothaman teaches wherein the message comprises an indication that the [[sidelink communication link]] is for a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE (Raghothaman, para. [0170]: If the base station 114 determines to trigger handover, the base station 114 sends a message (RRC prepare for W2W coverage mode) informing the T-WTRU 201 1906. When the T-WTRU 201 is informed that handover is triggered, the T-WTRU 201 may perform neighbor discovery in order to find a H-WTRU 202 1908); and receive, from the base station in response to the connection setup request message, a connection setup complete message (Raghothaman, para. [0005][0106][0118]: the H-WTRU may receive an RRC connection setup message from the base station; teaches connection establishment. That is, RRC connection establishment uses a setup, i.e., a setup complete exchange carried on SRB1. The SRB configuration conveyed in the connection setup message determines the SRB used for subsequent connection setup complete message) comprising an indication of a first signaling radio bearer associated with a relay link for the relay pairing (Raghothaman, para. [0006]: the RRC connection setup message may include configuration information for a first signaling radio bearer (SRB1) of the T-WTRU. The SRB1 may be mapped to a data radio bearer (DRB) of the H-WTRU).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that a handover associated with a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE;
and receiving, from the base station in response to the connection setup request
message, a connection setup complete message comprising an indication of a first
signaling radio bearer associated with a relay link for the relay pairing as taught by
Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and
coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 55, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the apparatus of claim 54, however, Raghothaman further teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the
apparatus to:
transmit a reconfiguration request message to the base station based at least in
part on receiving the connection setup complete message (Raghothaman, para. [0122]-[0124]: The base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the H-WTRU 202 930 for configuring the radio bearers between the base station 114 and the H-WTRU 202. After configuring the H-WTRU's 202 radio bearers in accordance with the RRC reconfiguration message, H-WTRU 202 transmits an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message 932 to indicate that the radio bearers have been configured); and
receive, from the base station, a reconfiguration complete message comprising
an indication of a second signaling radio bearer for the relay link, or a data radio bearer
for the relay link, or any combination thereof (Raghothaman, para. [0177]: the T-WTRU 201 may receive an RRC reconfiguration message from the base station 1934. The RRC reconfiguration message may be received on SRB1, which is tunneled through a DRB of the H-WTRU 202. Alternatively, the RRC reconfiguration message and the RRC reconfiguration complete message may be exchanged over the direct TRL 205 if it remains established. After the exchange of the RRC reconfiguration and the RRC reconfiguration complete messages, handover is completed 1938.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that transmitting a reconfiguration request message to the base station based at least in part on receiving the connection setup complete message and receiving, from the base station, a reconfiguration complete message comprising an indication of a second signaling radio bearer for the relay link, or a data radio bearer for the relay link as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 56, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the apparatus of claim 55, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the
apparatus to:
relay, from the UE, a connection reestablishment request message to the base
station based at least in part on the relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE
(Folke, Fig. 9A, para. 115-118: the Relay_UE sends a msg-5 (measurement reported
related to the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 508). The Relay_UE, the eNB, and the CN
18 (which in this example is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network) communicate to
perform bearer reconfiguration (step 510)); and
relay, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message to the UE in
response to the connection reestablishment request message (Folke, Fig. 9A, S614,
S620, para. 124: the eNB sends msg-9 to the Remote_UE, where msg-9 instructs the
Remote_UE to connect to the Relay_UE (step 618) (“You shall connect to Relay_UE”).
The Remote_UE and the Relay_UE communicate to perform L3 authentication and
establishment of security association (step 620)).
Regarding claim 57, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the apparatus of claim 56, however, Raghothaman further teaches wherein the connection reestablishment request message and the connection reestablishment message are relayed before receiving the reconfiguration complete message from the base station (Raghothaman, para. [0157]: The T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment request to the backup H-WTRU 206 1616 and the backup H-WTRU 206 relays the RRC connection reestablishment request to the base station 114 in an RRC information transfer message 1618. RRC connection reconfiguration is performed for the backup H-WTRU 206 1620, as described with reference to numerals 928-934 in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The base station 114 sends an RRC connection reestablishment message to the backup H-WTRU 206 1622, which is relayed to the T-WTRU 201 1624. Further, the T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment complete message to the backup H-WTRU 206 1626, which is relayed to the base station).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that the connection reestablishment request message and the connection reestablishment message are relayed before receiving the reconfiguration complete message from the base station as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 58, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose all the subject matter of the apparatus of claim 54, however, Raghothaman further teaches wherein a connection state of the relay UE comprises an idle state or an inactive state (Raghothaman, para. [0088]: The WTRU 102 may be in an RRC-IDLE state).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with Raghothaman to teach that a
connection state of the relay UE comprises an idle state or an inactive state as taught
by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and
coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 59, Folke discloses an apparatus for wireless communications
at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a processor (Folke, Fig. 15: processor 20); memory coupled with the processor
(Folke, Fig. 15: memory 22); and instructions stored in the memory and executable by
the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a base station, a first message indicating a configuration of a relay
UE (Folke, para. [0120]: the eNB sends msg-1 (relay discovery channel (re)configuration) to the Relay_UE (step 600) and msg-2 (relay discovery channel (re)configuration) to the Remote_UE (step 602). The eNB also sends msg-3 (measurement report trigger/(re)configuration) to the Relay_UE (step 604) and msg-4 (measurement report trigger/(re)configuration) to the Remote_UE (step 606)), an identifier of the relay UE (Folke, para. 105: a layer 2 identifier of the WD 12), and wherein the first message is based at least in part on a relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE (Folke, para. 117: a UE-relay connection setup procedure is performed. For this procedure, the Remote_UE and the Relay_UE communicate to perform layer 3 (L3) authentication and establishment of security association (step 506). In addition, a route configuration procedure is performed. For the route configuration procedure, the Relay_UE sends a msg-5 (measurement reported related to the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 508));
transmit, to the relay UE, a second message to establish a [[sidelink
communication link]] with the relay UE (Folke, Fig. 8, para. 116: Remote_UE sends
msg-3 (a unicast/broadcast relay request) (step 500). Msg-3 is sent via a PC5
communication channel (which may also be referred to herein as a PC5 relay discovery
transport channel)); and
receive, from the relay UE and in response to the second message, a third
message configuring the [[sidelink communication link]] with the relay UE (Folke, Fig. 8,
S504, para. 116: the Relay_UE sends a msg-4 (relay service broadcast/unicast) (step
504). Msg-4 is sent via the PC5 relay discovery transport channel).
Although Folke discloses establishment of security association with relay UE,
Folke does not appear to explicitly disclose and an indication for the UE to switch to a sidelink communications link with the relay UE.
In the same field of endeavor, Xu discloses and an indication for the UE to switch to a sidelink communications link with the relay UE (Xu, FIGS. 9-10, para. 39: after determining candidate links, the selecting unit 113 is configured to select a communication link to be applied to the user equipment from the candidate links based on the information acquired by the acquiring unit 111).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke with Xu to teach that the UE is to switch to a
sidelink communications link with the relay UE as taught by Xu. The motivation for doing
so would have been to provide a better guarantee of service continuity as taught in Xu
para. 62.
Folke and Xu do not appear to disclose wherein the second message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing.
In the same field of endeavor, Raghothaman teaches wherein the second message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing (Raghothaman, para. [0170][0192]: If the base station 114 determines to trigger handover, the base station 114 sends a message (RRC prepare for W2W coverage mode) informing the T-WTRU 201 1906. When the T-WTRU 201 is informed that handover is triggered, the T-WTRU 201 may perform neighbor discovery in order to find a H-WTRU 202 1908. See also Fig. 25A for a handover associated with the relay pairing).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that the second message comprises an indication that the sidelink communication link is for a handover associated with a relay pairing as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 60, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the apparatus of claim 59, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the
apparatus to:
transmit a measurement report to the base station (Folke, Fig. 9A, S612, para. 122: Remote UE sends msg-7(RAN) Measurement Report to eNB), wherein the
measurement report comprises an indication of a connection state of the relay UE
(Folke, para. [0087]: When a remote UE in network coverage receives service (availability) messages from several relays, the remote UE needs to report measurements related to one or more candidate relays to the eNB. How many and which candidate relay should be reported? Moreover, [0123] discloses the Relay_UE sends msg-8 (measurement report for the Remote_UE) to the eNB (step 616). This measurement report includes, e.g., a measurement of the radio channel quality of PC5 (i.e., the radio channel between the Remote_UE and the Relay_UE)), the identifier of the relay UE, a cell identifier of the relay UE, or any combination thereof, wherein the relay pairing is based at least in part on the measurement report (Folke, para. 105, 111: the measurement report may include a measurement of the PC5 radio channel quality and an identifier of the remote WD. The response may include, for example, an indication of one or more services provided by the relay WD 12 and a ProSe UE ID of the relay WD 12 (which is a layer 2 identifier of the WD 12)).
Regarding claim 61, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the apparatus of claim 59, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the
apparatus to:
transmit, via the relay UE, a connection reestablishment request message to the
base station based at least in part on the relay pairing between the UE and the relay UE
(Folke, para. 117-118, 125: A relay-UE connection acknowledgment procedure is then performed. In this procedure, the Relay_UE sends a L3 ACK to the Remote_UE to
provide the relay connection (step 624). The Remote_UE then starts data transmission
on PC5 (step 626), where this data transmission is relayed to the eNB via the
Relay_UE), however, Raghothaman further teaches receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message (Raghothaman, Fig. 16, para. [0157]: The T-WTRU 201 sends an RRC connection reestablishment request to the backup H-WTRU 206 1616 and the backup H-WTRU 206 relays the RRC connection reestablishment request to the base station 114 in an RRC information transfer message 1618. RRC connection
reconfiguration is performed for the backup H-WTRU 206 1620. The base station 114
sends an RRC connection reestablishment message to the backup H-WTRU).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to
teach that receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 62, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the apparatus of claim 61, however, Raghothaman further teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
release an access link between the UE and a source base station based at least
in part on receiving the connection reestablishment message via the relay UE (Raghothaman, Figs. 7, 22-23, para. [0101][0196]-[0199]: FIG. 7 shows an RRC state transition diagram for a H-WTRU 202. A H-WTRU 202 is in the XL-Inactive substate 520 of the RRC-IDLE state 410. If the H-WTRU 202 establishes the TRL 204 701, the H-WTRU 202 transitions to the RRC-CONNECTED state 420 while remaining in the same XL substate. While in the RRC-CONNECTED state 420, the H-WTRU 202 releases the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 or an RFL is declared on the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 702 and, as such, the H-WTRU 202 transitions back to the RRC-IDLE state 410.), wherein the source base station is different from the base station (Raghothaman, Fig. 22, para. [0196]: source base station 114 is different from target base station as shown in figure 22).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to teach that receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Regarding claim 63, Folke, Xu and Raghothaman disclose the apparatus of claim 59, however, Raghothaman further teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
release an access link between the UE and a source base station based at least
in part on receiving the first message (Raghothaman, Figs. 22-23, para. [0096][0196]-[0199]: If the WTRU 102 establishes a TRL 204 with a base station 114 601, the WTRU 102 transitions to the RRC-CONNECTED state 420 while remaining in the XL-Inactive substate 520. If the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 fails or the direct traditional link (TRL) 204 is released 602, the WTRU 102 transitions back to the RRC-IDLE state 410 and remains in the XL-Inactive substate 520.), wherein the source base station is different from the base station (Raghothaman, Fig. 22, para. [0196]: source base station 114 is different from target base station as shown in figure 22).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
date of the invention to combine the Folke and Xu with the teaching of Raghothaman to teach that receiving, from the base station, a connection reestablishment message via the relay UE in response to the connection reestablishment request message as taught by Raghothaman. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide service and coverage to the remote user equipment (UE) (Raghothaman, para. [0083].
Conclusion
14. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
a) DAMNJANOVIC et al. (US 20210289580 A1) discloses Relay Configuration via Base Station.
b) CHENG et al. (US 20240031891 A1) discloses Measurement Report and Relay Hnadover.
c) WEI et al. (US 20230309004 A1) discloses Base relay selection and management such that Base Station uses measurements for relay decisions.
15. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN F VOLTAIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-3953. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, REBECCA E. SONG can be reached at (571)270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEAN F VOLTAIRE/Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417